


Their First New Year's

by IanPeriwinkle



Series: Rogues Holiday Collection [3]
Category: The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Anxiety, Holiday, M/M, new year's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 04:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9162760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IanPeriwinkle/pseuds/IanPeriwinkle
Summary: James and Hartley spend their first New Year's together. It doesn't go quite to plan.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas fic isn't finished yet. Hopefully it will be soon, but for now have this.

The New Year was quiet for the Rogues this time around, as their ever-fearless leader had landed himself in jail sometime between Christmas and New Year’s (for something unrelated to a heist, which had all of the Rogues stumped), and without his guidance they didn’t want to try anything with the newest addition to the Rogues, whom none of them had quite warmed up to yet.

Of course, Roscoe had attempted to take leadership as soon as Len was out of the picture, but none of the guys were too enthused when he attempted to take up the role, and so he decided he was better off spending extra time with his sweetheart than fighting them on it.

James and Hartley, though brand new into their relationship (and struggling to adjust to it as well as hide it from the other Rogues), were already planning on spending the New Years together in relative privacy. The drama over Halloween and Christmas had allowed them to bond a bit more, and had resulted in a slightly uncomfortable, but relatively nice relationship that Hartley in particular was keen to consummate.

“I can’t believe that your real name is Hartley,” James was still in shock after learning the fact at Christmas, and was having a hard time adjusting to the new name, “Piper just fits you so much better, y’know?”

“Of course I know, James. That’s why I introduced myself as Piper,” Hartley rolled his eyes and stared at his new (soon-to-be) lover from the coffee machine. James had made himself comfortable at the makeshift table in the hideout, sitting on an overturned milk-crate wearing bright yellow footsie pyjamas and a Flash-themed dressing gown that Hartley was sure he’d seen disposed of multiple times by almost all of the Rogues. How it kept coming back was beyond him. “I don’t really get why you’re so hung up on this – it’s just a name.”

James’ nose wrinkled in frustration. “But it’s so… not _you_ ,” He gestured with both hands at Hartley, “I mean… Robert is okay. I could believe your name being Robert… but _Hartley_?”

“James, darling, I am well settled in the fact that my parents gave me a shitty name,” He poured them both cups of coffee, three sugars and cream in James’, and soy milk in his own, and brought them over to sit next to James, “You really don’t need to fret too much about this. Just keep calling me Piper,”

A flush crossed James’ face, but he didn’t say anything, and Hartley being as dense as he was didn’t pick up on the fidgeting that followed, so the conversation ended up straying to a different topic: New Year’s plans.

“- Since nobody is pulling any heists with Len still in Heights, I was wondering if you wanted to spend tonight with me,” James heard Hartley say, after a few minutes of ranting about the other Rogues’ plans (it seemed like Digger had conned everyone into a night of drinking and poker, which they all did enough that it held little appeal for James anymore).

“Wait, you – you want to spend New Year’s with me?” His eyes widened at Hartley, and he couldn’t stop the blush from spreading. He hadn’t expected to be spending it with Piper, having had a plan for a heist that he could easily pull off alone. But the thought of spending the holiday with Hartley properly sounded wonderful, and he figured the heist could wait another few days.

Hartley seemed to have taken his outward reaction the wrong way, as he bit his lip and looked aside awkwardly, choosing to take a long sip of his coffee while deciding what to say. “I – uh,” He considered carefully, “I did, but if you don’t want to that’s okay.” It wasn’t as if they’d been together long, or had spent that much time alone together anyway. Hartley admonished himself for being so upset by something really not that serious.

“Oh, that’s not it at all,” James reached over and clasped one of Hartley’s hands, glad that the rest of the Rogues were dead asleep otherwise he wasn’t sure he’d live down them seeing it, “I’d love to spend it with you. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

The two looked at each other for a few moments before Hartley let out a sigh of relief and squeezed James’ hand back. “I’m glad,” the red-head gave a somewhat sappy smile and leaned in to kiss James’ cheek. The two were careful to keep their displays of affection to a minimal in the hideout, and tended to only sneak these small things in when they knew the other Rogues (with the tentative exception of Len) were either asleep or out.

James, though happy to spend time with Piper, couldn’t help but be somewhat anxious. While he was usually very open to sleeping with people casually, he wasn’t certain if he was ready to have sex with a man for the first time yet – let alone a man who was his co-worker, and probably closest thing to a best friend he’d ever had, and his first ever boyfriend. It was stressing him out to no end, and he was pretty sure Piper wanted to sleep with him sooner rather than later, given how handsy their cuddles had gotten last night.

They had to finish breakfast in quiet, as Mark walked in to join them talking about his own plans for the evening (he too was skipping out on Digger’s drinking, and was planning on watching the ball drop at a local bar), but they kept exchanging small glances, and James tried to keep his smile at his usual bright and happy, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

* * *

All of the Rogues emerged from their slumbers at various points throughout the day, and James and Hartley decided it would be best to leave at around seven in the evening, when Digger decided to start drinking, which always ended badly for Hartley’s emotional state. As soon as they were out the front door, James squeezed Hartley’s hand in an attempt to alleviate the ginger’s angry face. It didn’t quite seem to work, but Hartley assured him it did really help.

It was a fairly tense drive, with Hartley having been stirred the wrong way, and James’ nerves about the incoming sex rising, and by the time they got to Hartley’s apartment James was about ready to run away and get himself arrested. He was so busy creating his escape plan, in fact, that he started when Hartley gently asked if he was okay, offering a hand to help him out of the car.

He took the hand and got up, blushing in uncharacteristic embarrassment. The last time he’d been here he’d first masturbated thinking about Hartley, and since then he hadn’t been able to shake the thought of it. He was trying not to imagine doing the things he’d thought about that night, and failing miserably.

When they got to the front door, all of James’ nerves came rushing to him at once and he froze as Hartley entered the apartment, staring after him. “I –“

Hartley turned around, eyes shining with concern and his hair falling lightly over his face. He brushed it out of the way and turned to take James’ hand. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Both of his hands clasped around one of James’, and he held it close, “Because if you’re not I can take you to your apartment. It’s okay, really,”

And James couldn’t doubt that it would really be okay – but he didn’t want to chicken out. He mustered his voice up, “No, I’m fine,” Not that he sounded convincing.

Hartley quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t ask any questions as he pulled James into the small apartment, and brought him over to the couch. They sat together and Hartley popped in some New Year’s movie, not planning on paying attention to it but rather turning to observe James with some mild concern. As a con-man, James was usually cool and collected – right now, however, he was visibly anxious about something.

One of his hands settled on James’ knee and rubbed it lightly before giving it a small squeeze. “Are you sure?” He asked tentatively, leaning in to give a light peck on the lips.

James turned to him with a small smile, and bumped their foreheads together. “I think so,” He offered. He was far from comfortable or okay, but he wanted this. He wanted this a lot. He twined his fingers with Hartley’s on his knee, and leaned in to give his boyfriend a deeper kiss.

* * *

Unusually for them, they made it through the whole movie without delving into full-blown making out, and by the time it was done they’d eaten a frozen pizza between them, had two cans of soft drink each, and were both feeling antsy for different reasons.

Hartley had noticed James’ tension, not that he could really do anything about it. But that had made him tense in turn, and as they watched the credits roll by he felt almost awkward taking the DVD and putting it back into its case. Looking at the clock, it was only ten and they still had time to waste before New Year’s – but Hartley had planned on spending that making out, which hadn’t even started yet. He tentatively touched James’ knee and looked him over with concern.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” He asked.

“Oh – oh yeah, I’m fine,” James answered a little too quickly, eyes widening and a large, fake smile crossing his face, before he leaned up and pressed a half-hearted kiss to Hartley’s lips. “Just, uh –“ God, how was he going to bring up that he wasn’t ready to sleep with Hartley yet without offending the red-head? How did people even do this dating thing? He just didn’t understand it.

“Are you sure? Because your heartbeat is awfully fast,”

Shit. He’d forgotten about the super-hearing. “Okay, um –“

“If you’re anxious it’s okay,” And suddenly James found Hartley’s eyes not only full of concern, but a bit of dejection. Shit. “I just – you could have told me,” The red-head sat back down next to James and pulled his hands back to himself, twining them in his lap.

Well, that hadn’t been the reaction he expected.

“No, I just…” James pouted slightly, “I didn’t want to disappoint you. I really want to spend the night with you –“

Hartley cut him off. “Then why are you so scared?” James couldn’t tell if he was angry or upset.

“It’s – ugh,” James put his head in his hands, and his voice dropped to a murmur, “I’m just not ready to have sex, okay?”

“Oh,” That, evidently, had not been what Piper was expecting either, as a confused ‘o’ was formed by his lips, “You could have just said so,” He gave a small, but nervous smile. “I’m not going to force you into it or anything.”

James lifted his face and gave Hartley a relieved, but sheepish smile. “Thank you,” He said, then wrapped his arms around Hartley’s waist and cuddled into his side. “You’re the best, by the way,” He rested his head in the crook of Hartley’s neck.

“I know,” Hartley gave James a warm smile, and pulled him closer. So what if they didn’t get to have sex – at least he had a New Year’s kiss for once.


End file.
